In the fourteenth century a terrible catastrophe fell upon Asia, Europe, the middle East and the North Africa. The black death or the bubonic plaque was an outbreak of disease that claimed one third of the European population in the span of three years from 1347 to 1350. The Asia, the middle East and the North Africa witnessed the similar devastating impact. This plaque showed no mercy and made every one whether they were poor, rich, young, old, priest and peasant it's victim. The diseases was so ruthless that it wipped out the entire population of towns, villages in a matter of few days.  The affected region witnessed the scarcity of place to bury the dead as they were not able to cope up with the rapid death toll.

It's difficult to trace with any certainty the reason and origin of this virus but there are few claims. Some researchers believe that it originated in the Gobi desert in Mongolia in the early fourteenth century, some say that it originated in china in Asia.  Once infected with this plague, the victim would first experience a high fever accompanied with aching limbs and extreme fatigue and within few days of infection the lymph nodes of the neck and armpits began to swell and would turn black.  The swellings slowly grew in size , at first the size resembled that of a hazel nut and then it grew to the size of a walnut, then that of a hen's egg and they inflicted excruciating pain and irritated the body causing the sufferer to vomit blood.  The virus rendered the victim so weak that they weren't able to stand up and confined them to their beds.This sickness lasted for three days and on the fourth day the patients succumbed to their own intolerable pain.

It was difficult to contain the virus then because by the time the person who introduced the disease to a particular region died others would already be in the early stages of infection.The outbreak of black death in the fourteenth century involved total of three deadly strains. Out of which bubonic was the mildest. The second form was the pneumonic plague which affected the respiratory system once the bubonic strain stretched it's reach to the lungs, the third form was septicaemic plague that affected the body circulatory system. The pneumonic and septicaemic plague had mortality rate of almost hundred percent.